Internationales Asienforum, Vol. 22 (1991), No. 1-2, p. 131-145 Daoism in Hong Kong A Case Study Law Y u Fai 1. Introduction Daoism in Hong Kong may be roughly divided into three groups. Firstly, there are the professional Daoists who belong to the school of Zheng Yi. These Daoists are called naam moh lo in Hong Kong (or nan wu lao in Man ­ darin). They perform rituals for money in big festivals such as jiao, or funerals. They may belong to a group or tang or they may work as individuals. Their group or tang is called naam moh gun (nan wu guan) in Hong Kong. They learn this profession from members of their family or from a master (shi fu). They are a non-monastic, non-celibate group of specialists who eat ordinary food outside of ritual performances and live like any other ordinary citizen. 1 Secondly, there are the regional or communal Daoist temples which may be owned and controlled by organizations of allied villages. John A. Brim calls them village alliance temples. 12 There may also be temples orginally be ­ longing to a community but which are now controlled by the government. Temples such as the Wen Wu Temple in Hollywood Road or the Tian Hou Temple in Causeway Bay are examples of the latter. Th irdly, there are private temples that are owned by groups. Most of these temples are members of the Hong Kong Daoist Association. They are charitable organizations. They promote their religion and they accept fol­ lowers. Most of these temples practise fu ji, a special way of communicating with spirits or gods by using a sand tray and a wooden pen. To be a follower one has to go through certain rituals. This article studies the third group of Daoists, giving an account of how and when they moved to Hong Kong from China, what they have done in Hong Kong and what changes they have experienced. 1 John Richard Gresham Mathias, "A Study of the Jiao, a Taoist Ritual, in Kam Tin, in the Hong Kong New Territories." PhD thesis, Oxford University, p. 75. 2 John A. Brim, "Village Alliance Temples in Hong Kong", in: Arthur, P. Wolf, Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, Stanford 1974, pp. 94-103. 132 Law Yu Fai 2. Master Zeng ’s temple Master Zeng was born in Jiu Jiang, Namhai, Guangdong Province. As a child, he had polio and was paralyzed and could not walk at all. One day he was possessed by Lu Dong-bin, one of the Eight Immortals (pa xian). Lu Dong- bin spoke to Zeng ’s parents through the child, telling them that the child ’s fate was interwined with the god Lu Dong-bin. He could cure the child, but the child must dedicate his life and work for Lu Dong-bin to propagate the doctrines of Dao. When the parents agreed, the child was cured and could walk again. After this incident, people knew Zeng had the ability to commu­ nicate with the spirits. They asked him to be the medium in a Daoist shrine called Qun Ymg Tang. Zeng went to school while working as a medium. When he grew older, he worked as a ji shou, one who controls the wooden pen in fu ji. To be a;7 shou one has to know how to read and write. Zeng also learnt how to draw charms (fu) and tried to heal diseases with charms. One day Lu Dong-bin instructed him through the means of fu ji, to go to Ying Yuan Gong Temple in Guangzhou (Canton). Zeng was told to look for the abbot Ye Jing-shan and study under him. Ying Yuan Gong Temple was affiliated to Chong Xu Guan in Luo Fu Shan, one of the major Daoist mountains in Guangdong Province. Chong Xu Guan belonged to the Daoist sect of Quan Zhen. So Zeng became a disciple in Ying Yuan Gong Temple in Guanzhou and was the 25th generation of the lodge of character cheng. After studying in Ying Yuan Gong Temple, Zeng went back to his home town and organized Daoist schools. During World War II he came to Hong Kong. He formed a Daoist group called Qun Xiu Tan in Kowloon. When Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese, he went back to Jiu Jiang. In 1950/51 Zeng came to Hong Kong again. He rented a room in Shek Kip Mei. After only a short time he was kicked out by the land-lady who was a Roman Catholic and could not stand Zeng having a Daoist altar in her house. Through the help of a friend, Zeng was introduced to a man named Luo who was living in the same area. Luo was a graduate from Zhong Shan University and was living with his wife and children in a small flat. He told Zeng that if he did not mind, he could sleep in his apartment in the corridor on a camp bed. He allowed Zeng to put the altar for Lu Dong-bin on the table above the earth god (tu di). And so Zeng lived in Luo ’s place and they became good friends. It was after World War II and after the Revolution in China. Luo was at a critical turning-point in his life. He thought that Daoism promoted the goodness of human beings and he became interested in joining Zeng to form a Daoist group. One day, through the wooden pen and the sand tray, Lu Dong-bin told the two that Zeng was the root of Dao and Luo was Daoism in Hong Kong 133 the seal of Dao. Luo was given a Daoist name, Yun Liang Zi. Luo and Zeng rented a small flat in Kowloon and set up an altar which was registered as a private temple. In about 1954/55, Luo had a stroke of good luck. His wife had a dream one night. She dreamed she had won the lottery. When she woke up she still remembered the number of the lottery ticket, namely 1234567. She asked Luo to buy one with that number. Luo told her that it must be a joke, as no one could fmd such a ticket in a city like Hong Kong. His wife told him that per ­ haps he could just buy a lottery ticket with a number starting with one and ending with seven. But one day Luo did find such a lottery ticket when he was having coffee in Shanghai Street. He bought it and won ten thousand and eight dollars. With his winnings he decided to buy an apartment for the temple. He and Zeng asked their god Lu Dong-bin where it should be lo­ cated. From the sand tray and wooden pen they were instructed to buy an apartment at 929 Canton Road, Kowloon. When they went to that address, the former building had been torn down and a new building was under con ­ struction. They bought an apartment in the new building and registered it as a temple, Wan De Zhi Shan She. It was a charitable organization and limited company. In 1955, they bought another apartment and after some years they had four apartments in the same building. Master Zeng went to San Francisco in 1965. He set up a Daoist and Buddhist society in San Francisco with some of his followers. The society was called Guangming Fo Dao She. In 1967 Zeng returned to Hong Kong. He went to San Francisco again in 1977 and set up another society, Zhi Shan Fo Dao She. He died in San Francisco in 1982. He had contributed his whole life to his god Lu Dong-bin. He was never married and had no children. In the 1970 ’s, Zeng ’s temple in Hong Kong was extended. They bought another six apartments on a nearby street. In 1979 they bought another apartment in Tai Po, New Territories, and started a branch (fen tan) temple. In 1976/77 they bought a large piece of land in the countryside near Tai Po. They built a house there. The plan was to open a temple with a vegetarian restaurant and a big garden to attract tourists from the urban area. Unfortun ­ ately, their land was situated in an area designated for catching water for a reservoir and the restaurant was not allowed due to water pollution control. The place was used as a resort for members of the temple. 134 Law Yu Fai 3. Daoist Temples in Hong Kong There are more than three hundred registered Chinese temples in Hong Kong. Some of these temples are private temples administered by a religious group or by a regional community. Some are managed by the government by employed temple watchers. There are more than sixty temples registered as members of the Hong Kong Daoist Association. Nearly all of these temples are registered as private temples. The most popular temples in Hong Kong are Tian Hou Temples. Tian Hou is the goddess of fishermen. There are more than fifty Tian Hou Temples in Hong Kong. The other popular temples are Hong Sheng Temples, Guan Yin Temples, and Bei Di Temples. Most of these temples are managed by the Rural Community Committee and temple watchers. These temples are used mainly for celebrating the birthdays of the gods, on which occasion the villages are present. At other times the temple is open for every­ body to give offerings to the gods. At the beginning of the lunar year, people come to make their wishes and at the end of it they come to thank the gods for their protection during the year.